Iris

Watercolor has become more and more important to me these past few months. Besides sketching at least once a week with my outdoor group I've also been doing smaller watercolors in sketchbooks.  

"Iris," ink and wc on paper, ~5x8

This particular watercolor is actually a decoration of the front flyleaf of my newest sketchbook. When I've worked in watercolor outside it's usually been in a 5x9 watercolor sketchbook. That size allows good attention to detail and a relatively quick finish. Most of my sketches that size are sixty to ninety minutes. Unlike those, this watercolor has much more detail and so took more time. The bicolor iris is from a personal reference photo and includes a peony in bud and about to open. The date in the upper left is the date on the flyleaf. Although I drew this in graphite, I inked it before painting, whereas I usually ink the finished painting. I reversed the steps because I wanted to study the intricate anatomy of the open flower and wasn't sure when I'd be able to add color. 

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Pairings

My New York art club--the Salmagundi Club--has a new exhibition opening Sept 1 and lasting through Sept 25 titled "Pairings." This members-only show follows an interesting premise. Entrants have submitted two works of art (any media) from their practices, separated by 20 years or more. It's a chance to contrast early works with later ones. 

I submitted these two oil paintings. The winter scene dates from 2003 while the second, summer landscape is from last year. Although my oils have evolved over the two decades separating them, realism is still my main interest.  

"Winter Walk," oil on canvas, 24x20

The street scene is a look at a Boston street after an overnight snowfall. The summer scene is a view of the back of the Des Moines Art Center. The building partly seen in the painting was designed by I.M. Pei, the well-known architect of the Louvre pyramid. 

"Behind the Museum," oil on panel, 12x16

 

Another Saturday

Last weekend the sketch group decided to spend a couple of hours at the local baseball park. There are quite a few views from the parking lot that merit sketching, including the river and bridges, the downtown skyline, the ballpark itself, and so on. 

"From the Ball Park," wc/ink on paper, 8x13

I chose downtown, which is challenging because of the jumble of building shapes and sizes. This was the beginning of a new sketchbook, too, so I wanted a relatively panoramic picture. This particular book has fairly heavy watercolor paper, bound to lie flat. I drew the skyline, then inked it and corrected drawing errors as I went. The painting step involved several layers to add depth and separate values. The new book is larger and sketches cover more, so a wider variety of compositions and sizes will be possible.

Striper Time on the Hudson

"Striper Time," oil on panel

Back in 2019 I attended a plein air painting workshop in upstate New York, the Hudson Valley to be exact. One of our painting sites was the shore of Newburgh Bay, a remarkably wide place in the river a few miles north of West Point. I used the sketches for that experience (plus photo references I snapped) to develop this oil. It remains in the studio as a reminder of a lovely few days.

Besides painting at this locale I was fortunate to spend a day there with my host and his fishing buddies, angling for striped bass as they ascended the river from the sea, to spawn. Every year a group of fishers gathers daily during the season, vying to land the largest fish. . 
 

Saturday

The weather was wonderful last weekend--dry, temperate and partly cloudy. Most of the sketch group decided on something besides the confines of city streets. Eventually we decided that either Waterworks Park or Grays Lake would be good venues, and off we went. 

"Grays Lake Underpass," wc/ink on paper, about 5x17

A few years back the city built a wide underpass below Fleur Drive, the boulevard that divides the two areas of parkland, and it's usually busy with walkers and cycles. I opted to sketch the lake side of it. On a day like Saturday the bike/pedestrian trail that passes through it is even busier than usual, crowded with people enjoying the sun. I sat on a rock beside the trail and did a panoramic view, putting in a couple of strolling people, to define scale.. 

As ever, this is the result of a sequence of a graphite sketch, watercolor painting, and ink accents and lines.  

Casein Still Life

"Studio Arrangement," casein on panel, 6x8, private collection

One of the joys of learning to make pictures is trying different mediums and methods.

Many artists routinely draw with graphite but a great many use other mediums like charcoal, ink, crayons of various kinds, and metal point (a rare one). 

Over the years my primary painting medium has been oil paint, but I've experimented with most other paint mediums, including acrylics, gouache, and watercolor (all water media) plus another relatively rare paint called casein. 

Casein paint is made using a casein-oil emulsion as the vehicle. Casein, of course, is milk protein and the oil it's emuslified with is usually linseed oil. When I use it I'm pleased with its opacity and handling. Like acrylics, casein dries very quickly. And also like acrylics, casein is waterproof after it dries. In fact casein was the choice for quick-drying paint until the advent of acrylic vehicles. 

The painting posted here served me a dual purpose. First, it gave me practice in setting up and making a still like painting. Second, it was an early, fairly experimental use of casein. The view is of my glass studio palette on a grey tabletop near a big studio window. The light seemed to spill over the sill and onto the arrangement at that time of day. The entire work was done alla prima. The multiple pieces of glass allowed exploration of the properties of glass--transparency, opacity, refraction, reflection and so on. 

Historical Building

The subject of this plein air watercolor is Hoyt Sherman Place, which is not only a historical building but also a long-serving art gallery and performance venue. The original building was built as the home of Hoyt Sherman, whose older brother was William T. Sherman, the famous Civil War general. Hoyt Sherman was an early settler who became deeply embedded in the political and social life of Des Moines. In the late 19th century he built a brick home northwest of downtown. In later years a large auditorium addition turned his private home into its current form. 

"Hoyt Sherman Place," wc/ink on paper

Last Saturday the sketch group decided to spend some time drawing or painting the grounds and site. I sat under an ancient tree and made this image. The auditorium addition is just visible on the right side; the left side is (mostly) the original house.  

As always, my approach is to make a graphite drawing with more or leas detail, trying very hard to capture perspective and proportion. After that I usually add watercolor, then ink touches or emphasis.